Thousands of teachers and workers from other sectors marched in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, today to demand a dignified retirement and some $94 million in teacher career ladder payments from the government of Governor Jenniffer González.
Chanting “Where is JGo? JGo is not here. JGo is betraying the country’s teachers,” protesters flooded the streets of Old San Juan to La Fortaleza, where government representatives received a group of union leaders.
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Union leader Edwin Morales, coordinator of the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation (FMPR), told journalists that retired teachers receive “poverty pensions,” a situation the government has not addressed immediately as it had promised. “If they don’t address (our demand) with the seriousness it deserves, we are not going to rest here, and if we have to organize a national strike, we will do it,” Morales said.
In an unusual convergence, the march—which started toward the executive seat at Plaza Colón in Old San Juan—was joined by the School Bus Drivers Federation, the United Firefighters Union of Puerto Rico, the Brotherhood of Exempt Non-Teaching Employees of the University of Puerto Rico, the Workers Union of the Puerto Rican University Professors Association and the Independent Union of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority.
📚 “Las clases hoy son en la calle… es la única manera que logramos nuestros derechos”. Bajo un fuerte reclamo de justicia salarial y retiros dignos, cientos de manifestantes pertenecientes al magisterio, al Sindicato de Bomberos y a la Hermandad de Empleados Exentos No… pic.twitter.com/EVZcqs7P5k
— Prensa Abierta (@prensaabiertapr) November 5, 2026
The March of Indignation, as the teachers called it, arises because workers “are tired of unfulfilled promises,” as is the case with school bus drivers; according to José Rosado Rolón, president of the School Bus Drivers Federation, the government owes them nine million dollars for services to the Puerto Rico Department of Education. “They want to make our companies go bankrupt, because we know what is behind this: they want to benefit a particular company, and they don’t care about the children; what they care about is benefiting a company,” Rosado Rolón said.
FMPR President Mercedes Martínez revealed that she established a line of dialogue with the government to address the multiple demands after, following several attempts, spokespersons for the different organizations met with the new Secretary of the Governorship, Norma Burgos. “This month we are going to organize to intensify the struggle, and by December 2 we expect concrete proposals and actions so that they return what they have stolen from us,” Martínez said.
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